Jesus is Saviour

One of the classic titles given to Jesus is that of Saviour.
For many years a sign was inscribed on a large rock face on SH1 somewhere between Wellington and Hamilton it said JESUS SAVES underneath someone else had written “with the BNZ” or was it Westpac I don’t recall.
The humorous repartee points to a problem with the English language, what do we mean by saves and with the theological notion of Saviour and Salvation.
The exuberant evangelist on the street asks a passerby “Are you Saved” to which he gets the quite legitimate reply “saved from what?”
I think the phrase “Jesus is my Saviour” is repeated in some circles without a lot of thought to what that really means and without a lot of connection with the biblical idea behind that designation.
Like many terms in the bible saviour has a multiplicity of meanings and to grasp the concept you need to take all of them into account. Bad theology and bad Christian practice occurs when one meaning is given overdue emphasis.
A colleague of mine who spent some years ministering in the US recalled a number of experiences where he encountered people with a strange and unhelpful overemphasis on one aspect of saviour. On one occasion he picked up a hitch-hiker who was in quite a state, drunkard, gambler loose with his tongue as well as his money, had abandoned his family, but in conversation declared himself to be a Christian because he had got saved at some crusade or another. There was no expectation that Christianity had anything to do with being part of a church community living a life of love and service, of worshipping God. No being a Christian was a matter of uttering a prayer inviting Jesus into your heart and thereby being saved from hell destined for glory.
This is an extreme case but one that points to the pitfalls of having a narrow understanding of what saviour means, of what salvation is, of what being saved is all about. It is rather clear that this is not what Jesus envisaged for his followers. But how do we know that our view of salvation and our practice of calling Jesus saviour is any closer to the truth and any more helpful in living as Jesus intends us?
Salvation is a multifaceted jewel. It has a past, present and future dimension. We have been saved we are being saved we shall be saved. We are saved from certain things, sin, death, the devil, destruction. We are saved for certain things, a life of good works, to give glory to God, to be witnesses, to share eternity with God. There is a temporal dimension wherein salvation applies to the things of this world and there is an eternal dimension wherein salvation is a guarantee of a new world and life in all its fullness for all of eternity.
My colleagues hitchhiking companion had a limited view of salvation, for him to say Jesus was his saviour was a consequence of some past action that in turned guaranteed a future in heaven but had no implication for his life in the here and now.
His saviour was concerned only with saving his soul from hell. There was no sense that he was being saved to do anything – life could proceed in any way he chose without anything affecting his eternal destiny.
Contrast our sweat hitchhiker with Zacchaeus the tax collector. What do we notice about Zac’s encounter with Jesus.
1. To begin with there is an attraction and a curiosity about Jesus. Zac wanted to know who this Jesus was. Many conversions begin this way, with a person being curious and starting a search.
2. Jesus takes the initiative to engage with Zac. He calls to him in the fig tree. He calls to him by name. He invites Zac to respond. This detail reminds us of an important theological point about salvation and about Jesus the Saviour. Jesus is the initiator of salvation. Salvation comes from Jesus it is offered as a free gift. Some people strive to find salvation. They strive to earn their way into God’s good books; they want to prove that they are good enough to go to heaven. But salvation is actually the other way around; it’s about God coming to us with a free gift. The movement in the first place is always from God to human, from heaven to earth. We call this ‘grace’, unmerited kindness and favour. But note that Zac is not being invited to a free party. This is not cheap grace. Zac is being invited to a new way of life – it is to begin immediately with him showing hospitality to Jesus and his friends.
3. Zac immediately responds. He starts by offering Jesus a welcome. When I first became a Christian this was an incredibly important step. I acknowledged Jesus; I welcomed Jesus into my life. I asked him to save me. I knew already that that would involve change and it would involve commitments and it would involve cost, but I also knew instinctively that the new life I was beginning was going to have more pluses than minuses, that I would be rewarded for welcoming Jesus.
4. There is then a bit of grumbling. “All who saw it began to grumble saying he has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner”. The beginning of salvation can be quite unnerving because from that point on the world of the ‘saved’ is turned upside down. The sinner dines with the Lord of all, the wicked tax collector repents and begins to do good. The last becomes the first, the outcast is welcomed to the centre, the despised becomes a leader and shows the way. The religious become unnerved because their settled position is challenged, the complacent become unnerved because they see that grace is real and change is possible. The inactive become irritated by the energy of new convert who highlights their apathy. I’m sure you’ve experienced this phenomenon we often put it down to the zeal and inexperience and lack of mature wisdom of the new convert, but it is more than that, it is the unfettered activity of grace, turning the world of the convert upside own and with any shakeup like that there is bound to be a bit of a mess.
5. Zac’s response to the grumbling is to state his intention, to confess his faith, to outline for witnesses to hear his plan for following Jesus and working out his salvation. He makes his confession to Jesus the Lord "Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount." Zac is aware that for him to know Jesus as saviour he must know and serve him as Lord. Living honestly, compassionately, caring for the poor, working for justice. Zac is not earning his salvation, he is responding to the grace of God. The love of God compels him to do these things
6. Finally we hear Jesus affirmation of Zacchaeus: Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 10For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." Jesus came to seek and save the lost. There is no mention of heaven or the afterlife here; this story is not about that; it is about someone finding salvation. That is it is about someone finding Jesus, finding a reason to change and being given the power to change. Salvation according to this story is about life here and now, about the way we live about how we use our money, about how we follow Jesus as Lord.
This is not the only way the bible talks about salvation, but it is a good counter to the tradition that only emphasises the eternal and spiritual aspect of salvation.
Paul who is probably most often quoted to emphasise the eternal dimension of salvation is quite clear that salvation is also, if not primarily, about this life and how we live as saved people here and now,
8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
We are saved writes Paul so that we might do good works prepared for us. Salvation then is about being set free from all that prevents us finding our vocation, finding out what it is we are called to do, finding out just what those good works are that God has prepared for us to do and that God is waiting for us to do.
In this to we recognise an ongoing process, I am saved, I am being saved I will be saved. My past and present life decisions and career choices are based on my faith on the experience and understanding of God that has come to me through my relationship with Jesus. I have followed the call of Jesus to the best of my ability, according to my experience according to the degree to which I have been saved, set free, sanctified, made to be like Christ. As the process of my salvation continues I see my calling in a new light. I will see new works that God has prepared for me to do.
Thus our relationship with Jesus is dynamic and always changing. We can’t live in the past. We can’t base tomorrow’s decisions on yesterdays experience, we need an ongoing relationship with Jesus wherein we continue to be saved, to be refined, purified, challenged and changed. Paul once again Put’s this succinctly. This time Phil 2.
Therefore, my dear friends ...—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
In working out our salvation we are working out our ongoing relationship with Jesus; determining how he wants us to live in the current circumstance. It’s about saying yes to Jesus.
Yes I will try that new thing
Yes I will allow you to challenge and change me
Yes I will look for fresh ways to live out my faith
Yes I will serve you wherever you place me
Yes I will pay the price
Yes I will get off my backside
Yes I will love the least
Yes I will speak out for injustice
Yes Jesus Yes You are my saviour, you have saved me for a life of good works and I am being saved as I follow you and I will be fully saved when we meet face to face.
Yes Jesus my saviour.